Monday, October 27, 2014

Hello friends, and welcome to something new I am featuring on this blog. A little over a week ago I announced that I will be going on a blog tour with several independent authors featuring me on their sites. Well, today I am returning the favor and featuring April Erwin, author of Dysfunction Junction, here at the JatD blog.

About April:

Dream big, be bold, no fear! April Erwin
is the author of humorous and inspirational contemporary stories that reflect
her faith and the life motto created with her sister and best friend. A
lifelong resident of Independence, MO, April loves living in her hometown
surrounded by family and her Cocker Spaniel, Buddy. Raised in the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, she's thrilled to achieve her dream to become a writer and use
that to witness of her Christian faith. She holds an Associate in Graphological
Science, the study of handwriting analysis, tutors dyslexic and reading challenged
individuals, enjoys photography, is a singer/songwriter and records original
music with her sister, Angel. Dysfunction Junction is her second
published novel.

I asked April to tell us a little about Dysfunction Junction:

“I’m twenty-six and I’ve never been kissed.” Staring
into the bathroom mirror while making this brilliant comment is supposed to
make it feel real. It doesn’t.

Finding true
love these days feels impossible to Kianna Ravencamp, only dysfunction
surrounds her. Her sister’s married to an abusive husband and marriages she’s
admired for years are falling apart. Maybe relationships like her parent’s
don’t exist anymore. She dreams of true love and a family, but she’s never even
been kissed.

For her
birthday, her best friend gives her a journal and dares her to follow her dream
of songwriting and vocal lessons quickly follow. Kianna’s finally dared to
dream big… if the three men in her life don’t get in her way.

Nick Steele, her
new vocal partner is flirtatious and charming. Derek Simpson, the new vocal
coach is asking her out for coffee. Even Jason Payne, a childhood friend is
acting odd. For the first time in her life, she will have to navigate dating
and flirtation. Will her inexperience be her downfall? How will these
relationships affect her songwriting career? Letting go and trusting God is the
only answer that brings the path to real love and success.

April also has a pretty great book trailer for Dysfuction Junction. You can follow the link below to check it out:

And if that isn't enough for you, you can read a small excerpt of her novel....

“Kianna, you have such a pretty face, honey.”
Miss Bertha examines me as she leans on her tennis ball capped walker.

“If only you could lose
weight.” Reaching out, she pats my ample tummy.

My mouth turns to
cotton. Oh, no she didn’t!

I want so bad to
respond, but words fail me. Heat creeps up my neck and floods my cheeks. Tears
sting the back of my eyes as I glance around the church hall to see if anyone
noticed this mortifying exchange.

“You know, a pretty
girl like you could have any man she wanted if she took care of herself.” Miss
Bertha squints her eyes, as if she’s analyzing the amount of effort it would
take to make me truly suitable. “Your blonde hair and brown eyes are actually
attractive.”

Actually attractive…I’m
not sure if that counts as a compliment.

“I’m sure you’re
right.” I mumble, clamping my mouth shut on what I want to say—you mean old
biddy!

Miss Bertha shuffles
forward and for a moment, her skirt looks like it is harboring a pack of
wrestling puppies. And she thinks I need to lose weight? Isn’t that like the
hippo calling the elephant fat?

I look for something to
distract the nosy busybody. It’s Sunday night at Christ’s Covenant Restoration
Branch, my church home since I was a baby. I thought a missionary service would
be the one place I was safe.

Wrong. I wish Jason
was here. My best friend since
childhood, Jason Payne is like the big brother I never had. He always knows
what to say or do to make a situation better, but he’s out of town and I’m on
my own.

“Did you enjoy the
missionary slides?” I ask, as the line moves again.

I want nothing more
than to run away, but it would only give her more ammo. I hear her walker click
as she moves forward a step with me.

“Oh, yes. The last set
especially touched my heart. Jim is such an angel to be ministering to all
those children in Africa. Brings tears to my eyes.” The fore-mentioned drops
slide out and ride the wrinkled crevices in her cheeks.

Jim Noble is the
hottest missionary I’ve ever laid eyes on. He also happens to be the sweetest.
He attended the same church youth events with Jason and me for years and we all
stayed good friends. That was before Jim grew into his ears and before his
family moved to the mission field. It doesn’t matter. He’s not interested in me
romantically. To him, I’m a friend. Like I am to every other male I know.

“He is a good man.” I
agree. “I think it’s amazing how God is working in the communities over there.”

Her head wobbles in
agreement. “Too bad he doesn’t have a wife to help him. He’s such a catch; I
can’t imagine why he isn’t married yet. I told him so too, tonight.”

I bet you did.
“I’m sure he’s waiting for the right person.”

I see Jim across the
fellowship hall and feel a stab of sympathy. No one leaves a conversation with
Miss Bertha unscathed.

“You might find he’d
look your way if you slimmed down.” She eyes my hips and raises an eyebrow.

I bite my tongue. Oh,
Lord. Get me out of here before I say something terrible.

“Pardon me, Miss
Bertha. I see someone I need to speak to.”

I slide out of the
refreshment line and speed walk across the room, ignoring the surprised and
probably hurt look aimed at my back. Remembering the wrestling puppies, I slow
down and fight the urge to smooth my shirt down over the back of my slacks.

Heaven help me, but I
can’t take anymore of Miss Bertha’s supposedly helpful advice. I’m fat and I
know it, but patting my tummy in the middle of a packed social hall is about
the rudest thing I’ve experienced yet. Following it up with an attempt at
conditional matchmaking, well, that’s par for the course.

A crowd still surrounds
Jim, but he sees me, and waves. I’m surprised he notices me. I return his smile
and wave back. Several of the women look surprised at the exchange. I can see
the wheels turning in their heads, and after getting Bertha-d, I can’t bring
myself to go over there.

Not that any of them
would be hurtful. It’s just the opposite. Some of the women think being single
is the only requirement for a successful relationship and they will push me
toward anything with testosterone and a bare ring finger.

Walking to my car, late
August heat billows off the black top like a humid oven. I pull open the car
door and slide behind the wheel. My cell phone vibrates from the seat beside
me. I pull the phone out of my purse and check the caller ID.

Now that we know about Dysfucntion Junction, I thought it only appropriate to get to know April a little more...

What was school like for you?

I was a nerd! LOL. I loved school and couldn’t wait for it to start each
year. I was also very shy around new people. Thankfully, I attended a very small
private Christian school where I knew everyone, so there was seldom a problem.
I was the peace maker and friend to the friendless. Mom always encouraged that.
Sometimes that was hard and I didn’t enjoy it much, but I knew what it was like
to be teased and not always accepted. I was always chubby and although
intelligent, often naïve. I didn’t like to see others go through that too.

From Kindergarten through 6th grade I attended Eagle Hills, a
two room trailer that sat beside our church. There were no more than 3
teachers, each handling about 3 grades. I can say I know what a one room school
house was like.

When the school shut down, my teacher recommended I skip the 7th
grade. There was a new Christian private school being set up, but it wasn’t
quite ready yet. I chose to Homeschool my 8th and 9th grade years.
In 1992 Center Place Restoration School opened in Independence, MO and I was
the first student enrolled.

CPRS was K-12 and was a 3 story building. There were lockers, rotating
classes and a teacher for every subject. I was petrified I would get lost.
After attending for the first week I had to laugh at how ridiculous that idea
was. It was bigger than my trailer school – but not disorienting! J

I loved my 3 years in CPRS, uniforms and all. I was involved with choir,
drama and Student Council all three years, taking the role of President my
senior year. I still do all I can to support and promote my alma mater. They’re
a great school.

Were you good at English?

Yes – and no… I loved reading with a passion and begin writing stories,
plays, poetry and songs as soon as I could read. I would make them up in my
head even before I could write. My spelling, however, was always atrocious in
grade school. It didn’t get better until high school. Grammar was another odd
thing. I understood it and could use it properly, but remembering all the
technical terms like what is a Gerund? Or Participle? Forget it. Don’t ask me
to define anything short of the basics like a noun or verb.

Which writers inspire you?

There are so many to choose from. Dee Henderson is probably one of my top
inspirations. Her attention to detail and ability to create such tension and
emotion through a story that is balanced with romance or humor where needed, is
just phenomenal. I have the hardest time putting one of her books down.

Kaye Dacus is another huge inspiration. We seem to share so much in common
in both writing and life that I sometimes wonder if she’s not a long lost
sister or cousin. If I ever felt like another writer might identify with me, it
would be Kaye.

Brock and Bodie Thoene, Stephen R. Lawhead and Stephanie Meyer also inspire
me with their depth of research, creativity and pure giftedness when it comes
to storytelling.

So, what have you written?

My current novel, Dysfunction
Junction, released December 6, 2013 with MuseitUp Publishing. It’s a
Christian Chick-lit. My first published novel, Missing Pieces, published in September 2003 with Trafford. It’s a
Christian YA novel about adoption and finding the Gospel. I’ve also written a
suspense novel that is in revisions and other novels in various stages of
progress.

In addition to writing novels, I’ve also written several children’s books.
My mother is currently illustrating one titled Creation’s Ballad and in the future I will be publishing it
independently.

I’m also a song writer and I’ve recorded several songs with my sister,
Angel, who is also sometimes my co-songwriter. It’s a blast. All of the songs
in Dysfunction Junction, including
“Rain on Me” are originals.

Give us an insight into your main character. What does she do that is so
special?

Kianna is unique in a lot of ways – she’s twenty-six and never been kissed.
She struggles with self-image issues due to her size and she’s just about given
up hope on real love because of all the failed relationships she sees around
her. On the other hand, those same things are what I hope also makes her
identifiable to the reader.

One thing that makes Kianna unique is her willingness to take a leap of
faith into the unknown. She agrees to pursue those things that scare her and in
the process learns a lot about herself and life.

What are you working on at the minute? / What's your next project?

I’m currently working on the sequel to Dysfunction
Junction. This is Alexa Fehr’s story, and she has quite a story to tell!
There may be romance ahead, but there are also a lot of big life changes that
will be putting her faith to the test.

What I love about writing though is the freedom to express myself in so
many ways. I don’t feel tied permanently to one genre. I look forward to the
day when I can share a more suspenseful and intense story with my readers.
Hopefully, in the same style and voice that makes my stories unique.

When did you decide to become a writer?

I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil, but it wasn’t until my
senior year in high school that I received the inspiration for my first book, Missing Pieces. I started writing it
during the last few months of school, but I knew I was clueless about knowing
how to write a book. I took some classes and spent a long time learning the
craft as I wrote that first book.

I wanted to be a writer. That’s a scary and overwhelming thing to consider
at times. I spent a lot of time praying about it, asking God to show me what He
wanted me to do. The desire to write continued to grow.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t have moments of doubt though. About halfway
through writing the first draft of Missing
Pieces, I got discouraged. I was struggling to progress with the story. I
didn’t have my own computer; I was using my parent’s computer and writing by
hand. One day, in frustration, I told God that if He wanted me to write He
would have to provide me with a computer because I couldn’t write without one.

I know that was rather bold - and stupid. I knew I could write without a
computer of my own, I’d been doing it all along. This was my teenage pity-party
trying to find a way out of fulfilling the call I knew I had been given.

Never challenge God and expect to win! J The next day, I came home from work and Mom said, “Guess
what? Jackie, from church, bought a new computer and she thought you would like
her old one. It’s still in good shape and she said you could have it for free.”

My jaw hit the floor and a sense of conviction washed over me. I hadn’t
told anyone about my challenge to God. In less than 24 hours He challenged me
back by giving me what I asked for. Since then I’ve known writing was the path
for me. I love it.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Some really great developments have happened over the past
few weeks. The first big announcement is that I AM GOING ON TOUR! A blog tour to be specific. Starting today,
and over the next month or so, several bloggers will be spotlighting me in
their blogs and gaining me some valuable exposure. The schedule is as follows:

Be sure to stop by these blogs and peruse them. Bloggers are
able to track the stats of how many visits they get on a daily basis, so let’s
give them each a couple of hundred more clicks when they highlight my book. So
head on over to Mary Waibel’s site today!

The other awesome thing is that I will be topping off the
blog tour with an appearance at an Author’s Salon at the Lift Bridge Book Store
in Brockport, NY on November 29th. That is the Saturday after
Thanksgiving. So if you are in the Rochester, NY area (my hometown) and want to
stop by, I would love to see you.